I'm internationally known for my research on pleasure and orgasm experienced by people with spinal cord injuries. I have had the great honor of working with Drs. Beverly Whipple (lead researcher and author of the book, The G-spot) and Barry Komisaruk on groundbreaking research with women who have spinal cord injuries. That research led to the first fMRI studies of the brain during orgasm and the identification of a new nerve pathway that innovates the genitals.
I have been funded by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Spinal Cord Injury Education & Training Foundation; the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; the Atlanta Research and Education Foundation, Atlanta VA Medical Center, and; Health and Human Services Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
My first formal sexuality research, about eight years after acquiring a spinal cord injury, was a national study of sexuality education and counseling services received by men and women with spinal cord injury (SCI). I conducted this study as a graduate student in public health at Yale University School of Medicine. I was working on my degree in health policy and management at the time, heading toward a career in hospital administration. I decided to focus my Master’s thesis on the delivery of sexual health care services in rehabilitation settings because of the great importance my own sexual self-discovery had on my overall rehabilitation process.